Thursday, October 27, 2011

Cork Film Festival has unveiled an excellent programme for this year's event which runs from the 6th to the 13th November. Strong docs, strong Irish line-up, the usual superabundance of shorts, interesting industry and art/film crossover events, and a doubling of the 'Made in Cork' section which demonstrates the great growth of local film-making in the region.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

The Eurimages Board of Management met in Dublin last week and deliberated on the final round of project applications for 2011.

I have posted previously about the relative lack of success of Irish-originated applications to the fund while many other, non-Irish projects with Irish minority co-producers attached have been successful. Most of these latter projects were then also supported by the Irish Film Board and availed of our tax break.

It is arguable that this may represent a drift of accumulated resources away from indigenous projects or, with regard to Eurimages, that Irish-originated projects have not applied in any significant numbers and/or have not been of sufficient standard to merit the fund's support.

A question also arises about the actual benefit to the Irish audiovisual economy from these projects. Is it just a question of substantial fee income for Irish co-producers or is there any tangible, sustainable business created by this co-production activity?

It's clear that Irish writing and directing talent does not benefit from projects originated elsewhere, yet those projects are raising substantial funding in Ireland. Are Irish film makers having to compete for scarce Irish resources with film makers from other countries?

It would be interesting to see a balance sheet that compares Irish public funding for indigenous and offshore production over the last five years. A glance at this list suggests that a growing proportion of available resources have gone toward the offshore, 'service' sector.

We joined Eurimages because it was supposed to give our film-makers access to foreign sources of funding. It seems to be working in reverse. So, the important questions are - what is the policy position, where is it set out, how was it arrived at, and are the outcomes as predicted?

A list of all 'Irish' feature film projects supported by Eurimages in recent years.
Titles in bold are Irish originated.
* - projects also supported by the IFB.
# - projects also availing of Section 481

Monday, October 24, 2011

While the Irish Film Board's production and development loans are usually published and archived there is perhaps an area of IFB spending which doesn't attract as much attention and is seldom tracked, partly because of the two-year gap between the decisions being made and their later publication in the IFB annual reports.

This is a listing of the Board's other capital payments (they might be better described as grants since they're non-recoverable) for the years 2006-2009.

Notable, I think, is the €500,000 paid to Ardmore Studios. The substantial contribution to IFTA and the Guilds. The annual Eurimages subscription - a fund which has largely been captured by the co-production service sector. And the extent of investment in Cultural Cinema, Digital Exhibition and, especially, the Solas Picture Palace cinema project in Galway.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

A commenter on my post detailing Section 481 amounts raised in 2010 says, Magma Films didnt get 481 money for Jack Taylor. Finder films did, a completly different company so your source is not correct and I dont see you point in putting this info out or where you got it...

I think it worthy of a more detailed reply than I was able to make to the comment so here goes.

Firstly, the information comes separately from the Revenue and the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. The Department gives a list of projects and companies that have availed of the tax incentive, as it does gross figures for the scheme output in 2010, as follows -Year 2010
Projects 57
Total spend €346.3m
Irish spend €164.6m
Section 481 Amount €160.2m

It's important to note that 'Irish spend' includes finance other than that raised through Section 481. It will include other local public sector monies such as Irish Film Board, BAI, and broadcaster funding. And possibly some MEDIA and Eurimages public funding, in addition to other public or private sector funding from outside the jurisdiction.

The 28% net benefit to these 57 productions from Section 481 was €44,869,843.20. whereas the 41% exchequer cost was €65,702,270.40.

To come back to Magma, the commenter refers to Finder Films. Finder Films Ltd was, I believe, the Special Purpose Vehicle company established in September 2009 by Magma to produce Jack Taylor: The Guards. It availed of €1,336,000 raised in Section 481 in 2009, some 28% of which would usually have been the net benefit to the production. This company was wound up in March of this year.

Finder Films 2 Ltd was, I believe, set up in August 2010 as the SPV company by Magma to produce Jack Taylor - The Magdalen Martyrs/The Pikemen. It availed of €2,370,000 Section 481 funding, some 28% of which would usually have been the net benefit to the production. This company is still in existence.

Both companies' registered addresses were 16 Merchants Road, Galway, the location of the offices of Magma Films which is the trading name of Magma European Scripting House Ltd (MESH).

MESH was the principal tenant of the building and had sub-let offices to some unrelated companies. It was liable to Galway City Council for rates on the premises. On 2 February 2010 the Council obtained a decree against Magma European Scripting House Ltd (MESH) in Galway District Court for outstanding commercial rates of €27,000 owing up to end 2009. That decree is still in place. The Council will not confirm if the total rates now owed is in excess of €60,000 but added in response to an email:

We understand from a letter by MESH Ltd to all creditors that although they had considered going into voluntary liquidation earlier this year, MESH now intends not to liquidate and to continue to exploit existing and future rights on its intellectual property. We also understand that Mr Paul Mee of Mazars in Galway is currently in discussion on behalf of MESH with the Revenue, with Anglo Irish Bank and others in relation to outstanding debts and other issues.

I have been told that no 'Magma' companies now remain at 16 Merchants Road. Magma Productions Ltd changed its name to Tidal Films Ltd and subsequently moved to Mayoralty House, Flood Street, Galway. It is producing Thor - the Edda Chronicles through the SPV company Thorsday Films Ltd and Niko - Family Affairs through another SPV company Niko Film Productions Ltd. A further company, Tidal Niko Films Ltd was registered on the 22nd September.

While the directors of Magma Productions Ltd changed before it changed its name to Tidal Films Ltd earlier this year it is not clear if the shareholdings in the company have been altered. Magma Productions Ltd shares were held 30% by the two newest directors, 40% by a former director (German), 28% by an Austrian/German shareholder, and 2% by a holding company associated with the 28% shareholder.

I am told that the 40% shareholder is the sole director of the German company that has co-produced the Jack Taylor projects.

This brings us to the task being undertaken by Mazars in Galway to establish what MESH rights assets might be used to repay the monies owed to the company's creditors which include the public interest through the Revenue, Galway City Council, Anglo Irish Bank, Enterprise Ireland and, presumably, loans outstanding from the Irish Film Board.

Any contention that not all of these properties belong to MESH would seeem to rest on the premise that rights may have been legitimately assigned from one company to another, perhaps temporarily for the purpose of funding applications, on the basis of memorandums of understanding between companies which may have shared directors at the time of the assignment.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Not a local matter but you can expect it to go global in the next hour...

A Statement from Lars von TrierToday at 2 pm I was questioned by the Police of North Zealand in connection with charges made by the prosecution of Grasse in France from August 2011 regarding a possible violation of prohibition in French law against justification of war crimes. The investigation covers comments made during the press conference in Cannes in May 2011. Due to these serious accusations I have realized that I do not possess the skills to express myself unequivocally and I have therefore decided from this day forth to refrain from all public statements and interviews.
Lars von Trier
Avedøre, 5. October 2011

Meanwhile... Roman Polanski has been sheltered from justice and feted in France for nearly forty years.

The Irish Film Board and the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival have announced that their partnership on the Untitled screenwriting competition will return for the 10th anniversary of the festival in February, 2012.

Shortlisted writers will be invited to give a public presentation of their screenplay proposal to a panel of industry professionals who will then decide on the winning project. The event provides an opportunity to receive an IFB 'First Draft Loan' for the winning screenplay of €12,000 or €16,000, subject to the usual loan conditions. The deadline for entries is November 4th.

Individual or teams of writers are invited to submit a one page summary for a feature film with the theme of '1916'. This will be narrowed down to a shortlist of five entries and the shortlisted writers will then be asked to write the first few scenes of the script. The writers will present the shortlisted projects to an independent panel of international industry professionals in front of a public audience.

As regards the ‘1916’ theme the Festival says, This year’s theme is something of a challenge. There are endless ways to interpret the Irish story; especially this, the most debated and notorious time in our history, and that’s the point. We’re not looking for literal tales torn from dry textbooks. We’ll favour lateral thinking; new and confident ways of telling oft-told stories; as well as sideways glances at neglected moments from that ‘interesting time’. All we ask is that the stories are grounded in historical fact. Otherwise, please surprise us.

Entry conditions are as follows...1. Entry: Submit a one-page summary of your film along with a completed entry form (available from www.irishfilmboard.ie or www.jdiff.ie) and your CV to untitledscreenwritingcomp@gmail.com by Friday November 4, 2011.
2. Script: Five shortlisted projects will be announced on December 13, 2011. The successful applicants will be invited to write the first scenes of their screenplay (up to 25 pages in final draft format) by the opening night of the JDIFF on February 16, 2012. The five shortlisted projects will be selected by the IFB and Festival representatives along with an independent assessor.
3. Interview: The five shortlisted writers (or writers teams) will take part in a public interview with an independent panel of industry professionals (date TBA) during the festival. After a presentation and question and answer session, the panel will select the winner. The winner will be announced at the JDIFF Closing Night.

The winner will receive a First Draft Development Loan from the IFB. The four runners-up will win a season pass to JDIFF 2013. The competition is open to writers or teams of writers currently residing in Ireland or holders of a current Irish passport.